Saturday 1 June 2019

Labour Party launches UK tour to develop green jobs

The Labour Party's Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey has today launched a tour to help develop green jobs across the UK.

The move aims to enable communities across the country to contribute to the party's plans for a Green Industrial Revolution - it will take place alongside an online consultation to hear about the risks and opportunities present in different places and to find out what action people want to see the government pursue as a result.

The first stop on the tour is the town of Morecambe in Lancashire, where local people, workers, businesses and experts will be able to tell politicians about the region's potential for jobs in offshore wind, tidal power and community-owned renewable energy.

Meanwhile, the online call for evidence will survey the opinions of trades unions, businesses, public sector bodies, party members, civil society groups and members of the public and use this information to inform plans to tackle the climate emergency and secure well-paid, highly-skilled jobs in the sustainability sector.

Ms Long-Bailey MP said: "Without the right infrastructure, the skills and training, the right industrial strategy or investment in new technologies, we won't create a dynamic low carbon economy. Without one, we will fail future generations, forcing them to face the consequences of climate breakdown.

"We need big changes but politicians of all stripes have shown enormous complacency about climate change and green jobs. Labour is not only committed to bold and radical action to create hundreds of thousands of good jobs while tackling the climate emergency but we know that we need the skills and ideas of people throughout society to deliver it."

The consultation is available here.